


Under Lock and Key

by inkandwords



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Teikou Era, atsu fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3837298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkandwords/pseuds/inkandwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aomine keeps certain things locked up in a small box stuffed in the back of his gym locker. When he accidentally leaves the key behind, Kise gets a little adventurous and tries to find out exactly what’s inside.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under Lock and Key

**Author's Note:**

> For my beebee [drawverylittle](http://drawverylittle.tumblr.com) to brighten up her day and maybe give her art block a little kick in the ass. haha
> 
>  
> 
> **AO3 user[LPF](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LPF/pseuds/LPF)'s [Chinese translation](http://gobywind.lofter.com/post/40bd56_6f0fe6d). ♥**

“What do you keep in there, Aominecchi?” Kise asks after practice as he props his chin on Aomine’s shoulder. Curious eyes peek over at the small wooden box pushed all the way to the back of the small space before he’s promptly elbowed away.

“Mind your own business, stupid,” comes the gruff response, Aomine’s brows pulled tightly together as he slams his locker shut. 

Kise scowls, an indignant huff directed at Aomine’s retreating back as the locker room door closes behind him. “I was just asking,” he mumbles, changing into the rest of his uniform before he, too, exits behind the rest of the team. “Aominecchi’s so mean.”

* * *

 

“You’re gonna mess up your teeth if you keep trying to eat your pen like that,” Aomine says, slinging an arm around Kise’s shoulder on the way to the roof where everyone else is waiting. The unexpected gesture causes Kise’s cheeks to flush, the heat burning a trail all the way up to the tips of his ears.

“That’s gross! I don’t chew my pe--” Kise begins, the protest dying on his lips when he realizes he’s mutilated half of the pen he’s been carrying. “That’s weird; I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”

“It’s usually when you’re thinking about something,” Aomine mumbles absently.

Kise blinks. “Wait, how do you know th--”

“Just a guess,” Aomine says, cutting Kise off and nodding toward the others as they’re waved over to their usual spot. 

During their break, Kise catches Aomine scribbling something on a piece of paper, but before he can ask about it, Aomine stuffs the note into his pocket and pretends he doesn’t hear him. 

“Aominecchi’s so mean,” he mutters, turning to glare at his teammate just as Aomine is hastily looking away.

* * *

 

“Kise-kun! I have something for you!”

“Oh, wait, me first! I heard you liked white chocolates!”

“No, someone mentioned you liked homemade chocolates, so I made these just for you!"

Kise chuckles as he takes the packages held out to him in turn, offering a wink or a practiced smile to each of the half a dozen girls crowding him after morning classes. He spots Aomine from the corner of his eye and tries to wave, but the gesture is only met with a scowl as Aomine pretends to look the other way. A small pang hits him then, but he pushes it away, unwilling to let Aomine’s lack of a response get the better of him. Besides, he’s used to it; maybe after the day is through, Aomine would be much better at reciprocating Kise’s subtle attention.

Valentine’s Day is usually a busy day for him and by the time he’s gotten through the entire day, the amount of chocolate he’s amassed can probably kiss his abs goodbye. Thankfully, he catches Murasakibara eyeing the armload of sweets as he walks into the locker room for practice and gratefully unloads them all, save for one. 

This one he’s picked out himself, paid for with his own money; it’s smaller than the rest, but Aomine’s not one for large, extravagant gifts anyway. Besides, Kise knows it’s stupid, knows Aomine will probably laugh at him for the gesture, but for once, he’d like to do something that isn’t subtle, that isn’t something Aomine can misunderstand. No one can misunderstand getting chocolates on Valentine’s Day, right?

While he probably should give it to Aomine himself, his chickens out at the last minute. He leaves it by Aomine’s locker with a hasty note scrawled and taped to the box and waits for the reaction instead when Aomine finds the sweets before changing for practice. 

He holds his breath, gaze flickering sidelong, but Aomine doesn’t even look his way as he tosses the box into his locker and mumbles, “thanks,” on his way out to the gym.

Kise’s heart sinks as he follows the rest of the team out to practice. “Aominecchi’s so mean.”

* * *

 

White Day comes and goes, along with Kise’s hopes.

He does manage to get a few presents anyway, even a kiss on the cheek from one of his female admirers, though none are enough to make him forget about the one he doesn’t get.

* * *

 

A few days later, Kise lags behind the others. He doesn’t even try to talk to Aomine anymore, afraid he’ll start saying stupid things like ask about the secret box in his locker or the chocolates that have yet to receive an answer. So he waits until everyone has left before he sighs and turns to follow. 

It’s then he sees something on the floor; small and silver and catching the florescent glow of the overhead lights. His eyes widen.

_That’s... that’s..._

Giving a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure the door is secured, he swipes the key off the floor and turns it over in his hand. He debates giving it back to Aomine, but curiosity wins out, especially when he’s seen Aomine take scrap after scrap out of his pockets at the end of the day and stuff them into the small box hidden in the back of his locker. 

He manages to duplicate Aomine’s combination after the second try, chastising himself for mistaking the ‘five’ for a ‘six’, and retrieves the box buried under a mix of clean and unwashed gym clothes. “How much crap does he have in here?!” Kise mutters incredulously as he slips the key into the lock and pops open the lid. One by one, he begins to read, Aomine’s uneven handwriting on almost every piece of paper.

 

_‘he’s chewing his pen again. stupid kise.’_

 

_‘wonder what he’s thinking about when he wrecks the pen like that. wonder if it’s about me.’_

 

_‘he tried to find out what’s in the box. haha idiot.’_

 

_‘he keeps licking his lips when he talks to me. why does he do that’_

 

_‘he’s chewing his pen again and looking at me. maybe i want it to be about me’_

 

_‘he’s an idiot. flannting the chocolates from those dumb girls. did i spell flannting right? i don’t even care’_

 

Kise goes through them all, tucking aside the ones that causes his stomach to clench the most. 

 

_‘he gave me a box of chocolate but he gave murasakibara a bunch. maybe he likes him more. not like i care’_

 

_‘still haven’t said anything about the chocolate. i feel weird maybe he didn’t mean it for me’_

 

_‘it’s been over two weeks. if i say something now, I’ll look like an idiot.’_

 

_‘I wonder if he likes mochi. I don’t wanna get him chocolate ‘cause everyone gets him chocolates.‘_

 

_‘i’m an idiot’_

 

_‘white day is stupid. besides he’s been surrounded by his stupid fangirls all day’_

 

_‘i really am an idiot. i should just throw away the mochi’_

 

_‘he’s chewing on his pen again. but he doesn’t look at me anymore’_

 

“Oi, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Kise freezes and turns, scraps of paper clutched tightly in one hand, the opened box in the other. “A-Aominecchi... I didn’t mean to look, honest! I just, I saw your key and I’m sorry... I...”

Aomine is scowling, cheeks tinged an obvious pink, and he turns away to avoid meeting Kise’s eyes. “Just put them back,” he says, purposely staring at the wall. His voice shakes a little and if Kise hadn’t heard it with his own ears, he might not have believed it happened at all. “I won’t kick your ass into next week if you just put them back where you found them and go.”

“Aominecchi...” Kise swallows, but doesn’t move. He doesn’t want to put the notes back; he wants to read them again, wants to ask Aomine what they mean, why they are all about him. 

Aomine directs a scowl at him. “What are you waiting for? If you’re gonna laugh at me, get it over with so I can put my shit away.”

Kise blinks. “Laugh?” he asks, somewhat confused. “Why would I laugh? I don’t get it, though. Why would you write about me?”

With a shake of his head, Aomine sighs. “You really are dumb sometimes, you know that? Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“But you ignored me. I gave you something for Valentine’s Day and you ignored me. I waited for White Day and you ignored me. Aominecchi is the dumb one!”

Aomine palms his nape and the faint tinge of pink brightens to a palpable red. “I thought the chocolates were ‘cause you were giving them to everyone; Murasakibara carried off an arm full from you.”

“And White Day?”

“I saw a girl kiss you on the cheek. I thought you confessed to her and I didn’t wanna get in the way.” The latter part ends in a mumble so low that Kise has to strain to hear. 

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Kise flings the crumpled notes at Aomine’s face. “You’re the dumb one!” he repeats, turning the box over and dumping the contents on Aomine’s head. “All this time you’ve been writing stupid notes about me when you could’ve been... when we could’ve been...”

His tirade is cut off and it’s a stunned second before he realizes that the reason is the very awkward kiss Aomine has planted right on his mouth. He reciprocates, but only for a moment because Aomine pulls away, face practically purple from embarrassment. “Can’t you just shut up for once?”

“Y-You... you just,” Kise stammers.

Aomine stares at the floor before he chances a look at Kise again. “Yeah, and?”

Kise is silent as it all sinks in. Then he laughs. “It got me to shut up, didn’t it? Maybe you should do that more often.”

“Idiot,” Aomine mutters before he steps forward and obliges, the kiss less awkward, less hesitant, less tense this time around. 

And Kise thinks maybe using a key to unlock Aomine in more ways than one hadn’t been such a bad decision after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr @ [limitlessmonster](http://limitlessmonster.tumblr.com). :D


End file.
